Monrovia – Liberty Party – a major contender from the opposition bloc in the upcoming presidential elections – has called on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to refrain from making tenured appointments as she has only six months remaining to end her tenure.
Report by Lennart Dodoo – [email protected]
“We do not believe that the constitution intended for the legislature to create so many tenured positions, but even more so, the President should act in good faith, and avoid so many last-minute tenure appointments” – Liberty Party Press Release
Liberty Party’s call was contained in a press release issued Wednesday.
President Sirleaf over the past few days made several appointments, some of which have raised eye brows across the country. Appointments made by the president recently include Ms. Angelique Weeks, Chairperson of Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission, John Ballout, Liberia’s Ambassador to Qatar, among others.
The party stated in the release, “Clearly and obviously, the nation is in transition as the Sirleaf Administration has only three months of active duty and six months before official handover to the next administration.
It would be good if the President would rely on the strength of her 12-year work as President to seal her legacy rather than last minute appointments of officials who survive her. We do not believe that the constitution intended for the legislature to create so many tenured positions, but even more so, the President should act in good faith, and avoid so many last-minute tenure appointments.
Out of deference to the incoming administration we call on the President to refrain from making such appointments, and we call on the Senate not to confirm any appointments to a tenured position. We must begin a culture of Presidential courtesy during transitions and call on President Sirleaf to take the first step, as we together strive to develop democracy in our country.”
During Tuesday’s session at the Senate, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence(Liberty Party, Grand Bassa County), was one of several senators who resisted a letter sent by President Sirleaf informing the body of Ms. Weeks nomination as acting chairperson of the LERC.
“The letter was on the floor and was rejected on grounds that it was a tenured position and that too many Weekses were in the government.
Senator Karnga-Lawrence had in the days prior, written the Senate Plenary in March asking that body not to confirm any tenure official of government appointed or nominated by the President of Liberia and that communication was discussed and accepted by that body.
Under the Standing Rules 55 of the Senate, regarding the nomination process for officials, once a nomination is made by the President of the Republic of Liberia to the Senate, they shall unless otherwise ordered, be referred to the proper committee for its action.
The rule states: “All confirmation in the Senate shall be transacted in closed door Executive Session.
The vote shall be by ballot unless by unanimous consent to the contrary, and the proceedings shall be kept secret; provided that the injunction of secrecy as to the whole or any part of the proceedings may be removed on motion adopted by a majority of the Senate.
When a nomination is confirmed or rejected, any Senator may move for reconsideration on the same day on which the vote was taken, or on either of the next two sitting days.
Unless a notice of reconsideration is announced, all confirmation or rejection by the Senate shall be communicated to the President of Liberia after two working days of the Senate.
A motion for reconsideration shall be deemed as a stay order on the original question against which it is filed.
No action shall be taken on the original question until the motion for reconsideration has been considered and disposed of. Section 4: Nomination confirmed or rejected by the Senate shall not be returned by the Secretary of the Senate to the President of Liberia until the expiration of the time limited for making a motion to reconsider the same, or while a motion to reconsider is pending unless otherwise ordered by the Senate.”
Rule 64 Section 5 further states: “Nomination neither confirmed nor rejected during the Session at which they are made shall not be acted upon at any succeeding Session without being again made to the Senate by the President; and if the Senate shall adjourn or take a recess for more than thirty days, all nominations pending and not finally acted upon at the time of taking such adjournment or recess shall be returned by the Secretary of the Senate to the President of Liberia, and shall not again be considered unless they again be made to the Senate by the President.”
Rule 64, Section 7 adds: “All persons, whose names have been submitted by the President of Liberia to the Senate as nominees for the appointment of public service, shall be subject preliminarily to a Senate confirmation hearing before the proper committee.
Confirmation hearings shall be public unless otherwise by the full Senate. Such nominees shall present their curriculum vitae and other relevant data or information to the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, if specially requested by the Senate.”
The precedence of naming a rejected or potential appointment reject was first tested by President Sirleaf in 2013 when the Plenary of the Senate passed a vote of no confidence in former Acting Monrovia City Mayor Mary Broh who was re-nominated by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to return to her post, months after she was booted out.
The Senate passed the vote of no confidence in sympathy with their colleagues at the House of Representative who had previously declared the former mayor a non-governmental material.